7 September 2012
Got back yesterday from my charity ride to Budapest. We completed the challenge, all 1276 miles of it, in 23 hours 59 minutes.
On the way back we had a detour through Slovenia, because we felt like it!
All in all we rode 2810 miles in 5 days.
Bit sore now as you can expect!
The outward journey started well with lots of people coming to see us off. We had a police escort for a couple of motorway junctions and then our friends from the mid life crisis motorcycle club left us a few junctions later.
We were now on our own!
Warrington to Folkestone was a quick ride with very little traffic and we easily made our channel tunnel train time.
Arriving in Calais we began to appreciate the continental roads and made good speed throughout the night, stopping ever 2 hours to fuel and stretch our legs.
Before we had time to catch our breath Belgium was in our rear view mirror and after a short ride through the south part of the Netherlands we entered the massive country of Germany.
Looking at a map Germany looks large but it is only after spending 8 or 9 hours constantly in the saddle you begin to realise just how big it is!
Austria came and was a big boost to morale as we now knew we only had to cross this country and we were in Hungary.
We entered our final country in a daze due to fatigue. When we arrived at the final fuel stop we were all flagging and red bull, coffee and energy bars were the snacks of choice!
Fully fuelled, we checked the sat nav. 253 kilometres left to do in 2 hours. The sat nav said we'd arrive with a minute to spare. This would be close!
Around 50km into the last leg traffic went down to a standing single file and the blue flashing lights in the distance were ominous. After what seemed like a lifetime we saw the remains of a serious road collision.
I looked next to me and shouted,' this has cocked us up!'
Setting off again we knew we were in trouble as the crash had made our journey legally impossible.
I'm afraid to say that a few Hungarian speed limits may have been broken during the last 90 minutes of our ride!
We entered the outskirts of Budapest with minutes to go before our 24 hour challenge was complete.
Negotiating Budapest traffic with the agility of a local delivery man we arrived at the gates to the Peto Institute school with 2 minutes to go.
The front rider, who shall remain nameless to ease his embarrassment, stalled his machine and I began to worry we wouldn't make it.
I decided to mount the kerb and rush through the gates to park up then check in on the Facebook account to show we had made it.
When the check in time came up as 18:59 the relief was immense! We had made it!
A representative of the institute had come to meet us and manly hugs were exchanged between the riders. Very emotional times!
After a quick shower we walked a short distance to find food and as we were in foreign lands we did what all seasoned travellers do and looked to the sky to find the golden arches of Ronald's cafe!
A quick beer after food and we all headed off to bed, happy in the knowledge we had achieved the impossible!
Next morning after visiting the main institute building for a tour and interviews for Hungarian TV we set off for home.
A slight detour through Slovenia meant we arrived in our chosen Austrian town of Graz a little late.
We visited an Argentinian steakhouse for food and after ordering a steak burger I was alarmed to find it came without a lid. Surely a burger without a lid is just a beef patty on bread? The language barrier didn't stop me explaining this point to the bemused waiter!
The group then split off and Andy went to bed whilst the rest of us hunted down a pub.
Several beers later I decided to call it a night and walked back to the hotel with lee.
Martin and Dave carried on drinking.
I'll let you know the outcome later!
Charity Trip Completed • Opuss № I